Thandai Tres Leches Cake

If you’re looking for an Indian fusion dessert recipe this Holi, look no further than this gorgeous Thandai Tres Leches Cake recipe idea!

This fun fusion dessert combines flavors of the popular Indian drink made on the festive occasion of Holi, Thandai in the form of cake making it irresistible! This cake is simple to make, moist, egg-less, a treat to the eyes, and a whole new way to enjoy Thandai.

You can make this dessert easily ahead of time so it’s great for Holi parties, New Year parties, baby and wedding showers, or even just a picnic in the park or at the beach. Be sure to make plenty, since people will not only go for seconds but thirds and many more!!

Jump to:

• What is Thandai?
• What is Tres Leches Cake?
• There are 3 parts to this recipe.
• Why you will make this recipe?
• Ingredients required
• Step by step process
• Tips, notes and quick FAQs
• More Holi recipes
• Thandai Tres Leches Cake
• Video

Holi, the festival of colors, is next week and I am getting homesick as usual.

While I can’t do much about it, I try to feel festive by cooking all the special things that mom would make around this time.

One of them is Thandai.

I make plenty of Thandai powder at home during this season and make thandai at least twice a week. We also love thandai flavored desserts like this Gulab Jamun mousse with thandai and thandai butter cookies.

Last Diwali, You guys loved my Indian fusion dessert recipes Rasmalai cake, Falooda cake, and Gulab jamun cheesecake.

So here is another delicious Indian flavor cake recipe just in time for the Holi festival, Thandai Tres Leches Cake!! Now you can drink/eat your Thandai with moist cake!!

What is Thandai?

For those who are unfamiliar with the term thandai, Thandai is a traditional Indian beverage popular in the North Indian states of UP and Rajasthan and made especially for the festival of Holi. It has a cooling effect on the body and hence the name Thandai.

To prepare a thandai drink, special masala is made that is called Thandai powder.

Thandai Powder is a versatile masala with the flavors of cardamom, saffron rose and it is loaded with nuts.

Once the masala is ready, mix it in hot boiling milk. Then let it cool and set it in the refrigerator for around 1 hour so that the milk absorbs all the flavors.

It is quite refreshing to drink and is loaded with some rich ingredients like dry fruits, seeds, and saffron.

This Thandai masala is great to flavor your milk, use in desserts like cheesecake, kheer, rabdi, yogurt, cakes, and many more.

What is Tres Leches Cake?

Tres Leches is a vanilla sponge cake soaked in three different types of milk- condensed milk evaporated milk and heavy cream.

“Tres Leches” in itself means three kinds of milk.

It’s popular in Mexico and Latin America and throughout the United States as it’s often available at Mexican restaurants.

Making an eggless Tres Leches cake recipe post has been on my to-do list for quite some time now. So this time around, I thought of making Tres Leches cake with thandai flavor for holi and you guys…..let me tell you, this is one of THE BEST cakes I have made!

The flavors are spot on!

There are 3 parts to this recipe.

The base (cake)

Traditionally, a Tres Leches is made with eggs that incorporate a lot of air and make the sponge more capable of absorbing the milk.

But since we don’t consume eggs, I’ve made an eggless version!

I made the sponge using yogurt and baking soda- which is a perfect substitute for eggs! This makes the cake light and fluffy.

Milk mixture

This milk mixture is made with 3 kinds of milk and infused with thandai flavors. Then infuse our cake with this thandai milk mixture.

Whipped cream

We made simple whipped cream for topping the cake. We also added nuts and rose petals leave for garnishing.

Why you will make this recipe?

• Simple to make, eggless and can be made ahead a day in advance
• Perfect for the festive season or any special occasion
• Tastes as good as it looks
• Its moist and perfect Indian fusion cake recipe
• The flavor of this dessert is TRULY authentic and quite addictive!

Ingredients required

(Ingredient measurement is given in Recipe card)

For cake base

• All-purpose flour – measure flour and other ingredients correctly. Spoon the flour into a measuring cup and level off the top.
• Yogurt / Curd – I have used homemade curd. You can use store bought too.
• Flavorings – Saffron and cardamom powder
• Leavening agent – Baking soda and baking powder
• Sweetener – I have used white small granulate sugar. You can use powdered sugar or brown sugar as well.
• Fat – I have used canola oil. Vegetable oil and any flavorless oil can be substituted.

For Milk (Tres Leche)

• Condensed milk – Use according to your preferred sweetness.
• Evaporated milk – Regular whole milk can be substituted here.
• Heavy cream – for the cream and rich flavors. You can use half n half for the lighter version.
• Thandai powder – You can use homemade thandai powder or store-bought.

Toppings

• Heavy cream and sugar – for making whipped cream
• Almonds rose petals and saffron for garnishing the cake.

Step by step process

Eggless sponge cake

• Take yogurt (curd) and baking soda in a bowl. Mix it and let it rest for 5 minutes. (image 1)
• Meanwhile, take sugar and oil in a bowl, whisk until sugar is well combined with oil. (image 2 and 3)
• Now add curd-baking soda mixture in sugar oil mixture with cardamom and saffron. Whisk until well combined. Out wet mixture is ready. (image 4)
• Now sift the flour and baking powder directly onto the wet mixture. (image 5)
• Gently fold in the flour and mix until everything is well combined there are no large flour pockets in the batter. (image 6)
  • Tip – Do not over mix at this stage.
• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread out with a spatula. (image 7 and 8)
• Bake the cake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until the edges are pulling away from the sides of the cake pan, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with no batter on it. (image 9)

Make 3 milk mixtures.

• While the cake is baking, let prepare the milk mixture.
• Take condensed milk, evaporated milk, heavy cream, and thandai masala in a big cup. Stir together until combined. Place it in a refrigerator. (image 10 to 12)
  • Note – Make sure to let the milk infuse thandai flavors for at least an hour to get the best flavors.

• When the cake is baked, remove it from the oven. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan itself.
• After 10 minutes, remove the cake on the wire rack, remove the parchment paper and let the cake cool down completely.
• Strain the thandai milk mixture with a strainer. (You can skip this step too) in a glass. (image 13)
• Keep ¾ cup of the milk aside for serving.
• Now take the cake back in the same pan. (image 14)
• After that, use a chopstick to poke holes in the cake. (image 15 and16)
  • Note – you want a lot of holes.
• Once you have holes all over the cake, slowly pour the 2 cups of milk mixture all over the cake. Tilt the pan so that the milk covers the entire cake. (image 17 and 18)
  • Note – It seems like too much milk. But trust me It’s not!
• Cover the cake pan with cling wrap and transfer to the fridge to set completely, and to let the liquid absorb into the cake. This will take at least 1 hour.

Whipped cream

• Meanwhile, let’s prepare the whipped cream. You can skip this step and use store-bought whipped cream as well.
• Take cold whipping cream in a bowl, add icing sugar and beat until stiff peaks form about 2 to 4 minutes. (image 19 and 20)
• Spread the whipped cream over the cake. (image 21)
  • Tip – You can fill the piping bag and pipe them in your favorite shape.
• Garnish with almonds, saffron, and rose petals.
• Place it into the cake into the fridge and let it sit for at least 30 minutes.

• Once set, take it out, cut it into your desired pieces and serve.
• Serve it with a reserved milk mixture. Enjoy!

Tips, notes and quick FAQs

• Before making the eggless cake, make sure you line your baking tin with parchment paper.
• Make sure all your ingredients, are at room temperature when making the cake base.
• Pricking the cake is important before adding milk mixture.
• The milk mixture needs to be added once the cake is cool.
• To make sure the cake is covered with milk, after pouring the milk mixture, make sure you tilt the tin from one side to another.
• Let the cake rest for one hour in the fridge after pouring on the milk so it can absorb every drop.
• Set the Thandai tres leches cake in the fridge in the cake pan itself.
• The cake has to be demoulded only when it has been set!
• Make sure to let the cake sit for about an hour after frosting.

More Holi recipes

• Dahi vada
• Puran poli
• Gujiya
• Butterscotch burfi

Warm Regards,

Dhwani.